Tuesday, February 24, 2009

PHILOSOPHERS would argue that GOD cannot exist because evil exists in the world...the fundamental (fun & mental) question becoming: "How could a benevolent, all knowing, all powerful God allow BAD THINGS to happen?"

This is a completely valid question and one for which the Bible has the answer! Let's examine the facts, shall we?

Genesis tells us that when God had completed his creative work, he examined everything and said it was all GOOD! So what happened?

Rather than worshipful robots, God created his creatures with a free will. The angels have free will and some chose to rebel, Lucifer being apparently chief instigator in that rebellion.

Lucifer/Satan then tempted mankind in the garden of Eden with disobedience to God's clear commandment not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil...mankind disobeyed God and became sinners like Satan.

Romans 5 informs us that this initial rebellion affected all of Adam & Eve's descendants coming into the world...so that all became sinners and sin's death penalty passed unto all mankind.

Not only that, but the entire world is now under a curse because of our initial and continued rebellion to our Creator!

Man still has a free will and a natural tendency toward sin...so of course BAD THINGS are going to happen! Man chooses to make bad things happen! There are consequences for our daily rebellion in which we inflict ourselves upon other's lives with consequences.

The whole creation is groaning (Rom 8) and travailing just waiting for God's plan to come all the way around where sin will be judged and put down forever, where Righteousness will prevail and the Redeemed will live forever in a NEW HEAVEN and NEW EARTH. Folks God's plan isn't to renovate what we all polluted with sin. His goal in creation is to do a short work upon the Earth and cut it short in Righteousness (Rom 9)! God made everything good knowing that his creatures would pollute it, that he would have to redeem it, that he would have to come down from heaven in the form of humanity and pay for our sins to do it, and that ultimately he would re-create the heavens and the Earth for the redeemed to inhabit a creation that is ALL GOOD! No wonder the bible proclaims (Rom 8) that "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them called according to His purpose!"

Friday, February 20, 2009

Does Heaven really have streets of gold? Just asking that question might insight the rancor of my fellow Christians, but I think we often miss fundamental things about God's Word by not paying close enough attention. The bible tells us of three distinct "Heavens" which exist in Creation.

The Firmament or "Atmosphere" of Earth mentioned in Genesis, which is where the birds fly and planes, when they're doing alright.

The Celestial Heaven or space containing all of the various planetary bodies, stars and so forth. These declare the glory of God.

The Third Heaven mentioned by Paul particularly, which is the dwelling place of God in the spiritual realm.

Now, none of these is ever said to have streets of Gold as we generally describe Heaven. The fact of the matter is that when we use these descriptions of "Streets of Gold and Gates of Pearl, etc," we are actually referring to the God-made city of New Jerusalem. But this is not Heaven in any of the three forms mentioned in scripture. The bible (Rev 21) says that New Jerusalem descends from God out of Heaven. Now we may postulate that this city actually comes into existence from the spiritual realm where God dwells and enters the physical realm to at the very least remain in orbit with the New Earth. Since the city's dimensions are approximately 1500 miles in height, width and length and is never said to actually touch down on the earth, it is safe to say that it might only remain in orbit, though at that size, highly visible.

One of the things Christians generalize away when considering eternity, is the fact that we aren't ever said to be hanging around on a cloud playing a harp, twinking halos. The future for a Christian is highly active...Praise the Lord for that cause I get bored easy! Think about all that the bible foretells:

finishing our natural lives pursuing the Great Commission and a close, faithful walk with God...all with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The gathering of all believers at the rapture, receiving glorified bodies at that time.

The Judgment Seat of Christ, where every believer will give an account of their faithfulness to the work we have now (#1).

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb, a great celebration which appears to follow the Judgment Seat and precede the Second Coming of Christ.

The Second Coming of Christ where he will come with the armies of heaven...that's us as well folks...see Jude 14...and the battle of Armageddon!

The establishment of Christs kingdom upon a renewed earth following the battle and imprisonment of Satan himself in the pit.

The co-governing of Christ's kingdom with our Lord for 1,000 years leading to the final rebellion of Satan and mankind.

The Great White Throne judgment where we will almost certainly stand present..."and so shall we ever be with the Lord." Likewise we will stand in judgment at some point of the angels that rebelled, perhaps at the same time Satan is judged finally...though we aren't told.

A new Heaven and Earth will be created and the New Jerusalem will come down from God out of Heaven. We believers shall inhabit that city for eternity as well as having access to the new Earth and very likely access to the entire creation...no death, no pain, glorified bodies...oh, I'd say that's likely.

The point is that we have a lot going on for the believer in Jesus Christ...if we study the Word of God, we'll find not only greater accuracy in our understanding but a glorious future that shall never end!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

If I told you this LEGO sculpture of a man had assembled itself, would you believe me? What if I told you that it had occurred over millions of years...how about billions? You'd call me crazy, and you'd be right. Clearly someone with alot of ability put all these pieces together to form what we see in the sculpture...but do you realize that is exactly the fairy tale Evolutionists are selling to millions of people in this world?!

"EVOLUTION IS UNPROVED AND UNPROVABLE. WE BELIEVE IT ONLY BECAUSE THE ALTERNATIVE IS SPECIAL CREATION, AND THAT IS UNTHINKABLE."

This is a quote from an Evolutionist, actually Sir Authur Keith, who wrote the forward to Darwin's Origin of the Species. Does it surprise you that not even famous scientists and evolutionists believe this theory is valid or provable? The fact is, most people who believe in the theory of Evolution have no way to explain why they believe it - CLIK TO SEE A VIDEO TO THAT EFFECT.

No Evolutionist can explain the very core problem with this belief system...how did every living thing come from nothing? How did non-living matter become alive?

In the end of this debate we find faith. For the Believer: In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth. For the Evolutionist: In the beginning, Nothing became Something by pure chance.

Monday, February 16, 2009

WHY DON'T WE SEE BIBLE BELIEVERS EVANGELIZING THE LOST?! When's the last time you heard someone complain about those pesky baptists (or any other bible believers) always coming around, knocking on their doors trying to invite them to come to church or be born again into the family of God through faith in Jesus Christ?

It is a sad testimony to our laziness as believers that about the only times we visit people in the communities around our churches is for vacation bible school kickoffs, or as Pastors, to visit a "prospect," - someone who happened to wander through the doors of our church one Sunday.

The fact of the matter is that in today's culture, it's perfectly alright to be someone who never goes to church, someone who doesn't even believe in God...so there's not much incentive for lost people to simply wander into church. WE HAVE TO GO OUT TO THEM!! But we don't...

In the bible, the disciples of the Lord went from house to house with the gospel message...but we don't

The cults are going with a false gospel of works...yet we have the truth and never say a word.

Cult members are evangelizing the unsaved because they believe this will earn them a way into heaven...WE believers should be evangelizing the unsaved because we are going to heaven and want others to go their as well!

Okay Preacher, I'm guilty...now what do I do? First of all be willing to put a little rubber to the road and go into the highways and bi-ways to reach out to the lost...remember they have no natural desire to go into a church now-a-days. Used to, people were expected to be God-fearing and go to church just as a way of being upright...not anymore. Lost people are not going to bust down the doors of your bible believing / preaching church...we're going to have to bust out of the church house in order to go after them!

Do I need to be a preacher to go? ABSOLUTELY NOT! In fact the Great Commission was given to the entire body of believers! Pastors, evangelists, preacher and teachers were actually given unto the church (Eph 4:11).

Do I need to have a lot of scripture memorized to go? NO, but knowing the bible is ALWAYS a great idea! You never know when someone might ask you a question or put a scripture to you trying to stump you on the meaning...that never looks good. The fact is, you are delivering a message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, period. If you've experienced that then you are qualified to tell others, right?

Should I put my foot in the door when they open it and preach at them? NOT unless you're wearing steel-toed boots, cause they're about to slam your foot with that door! The truth is that in our modern culture, people are AFRAID of other people coming to their houses! Either they'll assume you are part of a cult (don't dress in the white shirt and tie) or they'll think you're up to NO GOOD! When I go door to door, carrying materials from the church, people usually brighten up when they realize, I'm just the Pastor from the Baptist church down the road coming to invite them...actually they look perplexed, because people aren't used to seeing bible believers out inviting them at all...sad, sad, sad but true.

You don't need to really do anything but show them that you cared enough about their soul to make the effort of walking down the road to their house in order to invite them out to your church services. A friendly caring impression is worth much more than bible thumping on their porch. Leave that to the preacher when they come visit your church...they'll expect preaching then and most likely be more open to listening. At the door they want to be rid of you before you turn out to be a maniac trying to kill them...and the newspapers tell us that happens, so don't feel bad about their response. People are cautious for their lives and with good reason. Just show yourself, HARMLESS, CARING AND COURTEOUS. People's minds are filled images of RELIGIOUS FANATICS doing crazy things while they shout scripture at their victims...don't feed those thoughts...surprise them by a compassionate invitation, placing well prepared materials (cd message, tract, church info) into their hands and telling them to have a nice day. If they want to talk more then talk, but don't impose upon them, they sure won't come visit your church for more of that!

IF THEY AREN'T AT HOME (or happen to be hiding in the closet until you leave :-) then leave your materials at the door and go. Always try to knock on the door if possible (barring rottweilers or trespassing signs). A FRIENDLY FACE and INVITE BEATS a discarded paper track left on their door any day!!

Christ gave us the commission to go forth and preach the gospel unto every creature...we've got a job to do, if we'll just bust out of our comfort zones and do it! Hey the cults are doing it, so we could do it...and we've actually got the true way of salvation to share! Isn't that worth doing. Wouldn't you like to stand at the judgment seat of Christ one day and hear, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant?" I know I would, and that is up to us.

Friday, February 13, 2009

WHO IS THE SUFFERING SERVANT OF ISAIAH CHAPTER 53? For Christians this might seem easy to answer...Jesus Christ, of course. However, I had the opportunity to pose this question to a Rabbi not long ago and the answer given surprised me. He said, ISRAEL IS THE SUFFERING SERVANT being referred to by the prophet Isaiah.

Now, you must understand that a Rabbi who doesn't believe Jesus is the Messiah is not going to say, Jesus...in fact, I've found that regarding any Old Testament scripture that must clearly identify Jesus as the Messiah, they will come up with some amazingly absurd answers or simply redirect you to something else entirely! But in all fairness, is it at all possible for the Rabbi to be right in this instance? Let's look...

In Isaiah 53 (please blow the dust off of your bible and look :-) we find a servant of God who is suffering for the sins and iniquities of others. The Rabbi claims that Isaiah is referring to the Nation of Israel who suffers for the sins of all of the other nations. FIRST: it must be noted that the nation of Israel habitually rebelled against the Lord from the time they were led from Egyptian captivity unto the present day...not that we heathen gentiles did not, mind you...but for a nation to suffer so that other nations iniquity before the Lord could be cleansed (the innocent suffering in the place of the guilty) that nation would have to be innocent! Neither Israel or any other nation can stand up to that standard. David remarked that "if the Lord should mark iniquity, who would be able to stand?" The rhetorical question clearly answers, NOBODY! Israel could not suffer for the iniquity of others because they were as guilty of national sin before the Lord as anyone one else!

Here we need to clarify a very important point as we'll be looking at the personal pronouns the prophet uses in the Chapter: The prophet Isaiah was a JEWISH PROPHET! This becomes important when we look at which group (with the servant or the sinners) Isaiah identifies himself with!

Now we see that Isaiah is referring to the servant as (he, him). NOWHERE IN THE CHAPTER DOES ISAIAH IDENTIFY HIMSELF WITH THIS PERSON or in HIS GROUP.

Isaiah refers to the sinners in question by pronouns (we, us, our). Notice that each of these shows Isaiah including himself among those guilty sinners whom this innocent servant is suffering for! Now remember that Isaiah is a jewish prophet...is it logical to say that a jewish prophet would include himself among the heathen gentiles? Absolutely not...in fact we can see that by Peters day, he was unwilling even to associate with gentiles. The Lord had to show Peter a "new thing" in order for him to go and witness to the gentile Cornelius.

Isaiah, a jewish prophet, is always going to include himself among "His people" Israel and it is Israel to whom he refers when he says this servant suffers for our iniquities! Israel cannot be the suffering servant, for this jewish prophet clearly says the servant suffers for his people, Israel, and their sins...I'm glad to say that He not only suffers for Israel's sins but for the sins of the whole world!

Thus we see that the servant is none other than the Messiah of Israel, the same who is prophecied in Dan 9: 25,26 to be "cut off, but not for himself," obviously to die for others! And Jesus can just as easily be shown from only the Old Testament scriptures to THE MESSIAH...Sorry Rabbi :-)

Monday, February 9, 2009

How many people have you heard say, "Boy I sure wish I could find the will of God for my life," or "I'd be glad to serve the Lord, if I only knew what he wanted me to do."

Well, Believers, I've got wonderful news for you! Jesus left the church (believers) a GREAT COMMISSION! In other words, he left us a JOB to do until he comes again. Isn't it wonderful to know that in an economic downspiral and rising rate of unemployment, that God has left each and every believer a job to do?

What is our job? SEED SOWERS...what? Yes, that's right, Jesus said to preach the gospel unto every creature and the bible clearly tells us (matt 13) that the Word of God is like seed that we are sent forth to sow everywhere we go. In the parable of Matt 13 we find Jesus explaining our job to us...we take the seed (word of God) and spread it in every direction. But preacher I don't know where to sow it. That's why you sow it everywhere! Some will fall in the weeds, some in the rocks and some on the old hard road, but some will fall into the good ground...into the the lives of those who will ultimately turn from their sin to put their genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and be born again into the family of God.

That's our job and so often we aren't doing it...oh we sit in church week after week, waiting for sinners to wander into our churches, but folks that just isn't reality. We now live in a society where it is perfectly alright to never go to church. This ain't Andy Griffith days we're living in. Now-a-days the church going, God fearing folk are on the minority side...on the fringe of society not in the well respected place we once held. The world is changing, society has changed and we can't expect sinners to run to our pews! WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO SHOW ENOUGH COMPASSION TO GET UP AND GO INVITE THEM TO COME...What is it the Spirit and the Bride (believers) say unto the lost world in Revelation 22? "COME!"

If Bible believing, preaching churches want to see souls saved and people coming into the sanctuarys to hear the word of God, then we're going to have to show our communities that we care enough to invite them! Most people don't crash parties...it's so much better when you're invited to come!

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Hello all, don't forget to check out the new features going up here at BIBLE-SMART! On the DOCTRINE FOR DUMMIESpage we've got lots of new posts on HEAVEN, HELL, SATAN, DEMONS, THE TRINITY, THE RAPTURE, NEW JERUSALEM, NEW HEAVENS AND EARTH, and many more!

Also we've gone to a separate page for everyones favorite simian scientist, PROFESSOR DARWIN! Check back often on these sidebar links to see the updates to these pages as well as our REVELATION STUDY page which updates with a new chapter every Friday!

Monday, February 2, 2009

WHY BOTHER GOING TO CHURCH? This might sound like an insane question to ask, but how many times have you heard someone say, "I can worship God on the lake, out in the woods or down at my house, just as well as I can down at the church house?" An insane question to ask, you say? Well then why do we see the size of a congregation dwindle close to half from Sunday Morning service to Sunday Evening and even worse than that on Wednesday services?

I suppose the quick answer to the question is, "Because God commands us to go to Church!" Actually in (Hebrews 10:25) we find that God commands us, "not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is; but exorting one another, and so much the more as ye see the day approaching."

One might point out that God didn't necessarily command you to go down to the church building on Sundays and Wednesdays, but that tends to be where Believers do assemble themselves and those generally are the days when they assemble themselves. So, I'd like us to not debate whether or not God wants you to go to church...clearly he does. But let's look at why He wants you to assemble with Believers then you might see the value never question it again!

If you haven't been saved then you can hear God's Word preached here and you can have your questions concerning your sin, God's judgment and Salvation answered by those equipped to do so. There's really no better place to come to Jesus in faith than in a good Bible believing / preaching church...although you can be saved anywhere you find yourself willing to be.

For Believers, God has placed you into His family and he wants you to assemble together so that you can encourage one another to walk by faith and serve God with your lives.

When we assemble with other Believers we surround ourselves with a support group of other saved sinners who have been or are currently going through the same heartaches and trials you may be going through. Who better to have praying for you than those who know how you're feeling?

When we assemble with other Believers we find role models of faith who influence and encourage us to serve God faithfully. We also can be taught by those who have a wealth of experience and knowledge of God's Word. Who better to answer your questions and help you grow in the Lord than God's people?

When we assemble with other Believers we place ourselves among brothers and sisters who will hold us accountable for our behavior...consider that if God were standing over your shoulder, you'd behave the right way ALL of the time...well, of course God is there, but we don't act like it. In the company of Believers we walk uprightly as we should because we see them watching. This helps us to walk uprightly when we aren't in their company as well.

In the assembly of Believers there are positions of responsibility to be held that give us a tangible opportunity to serve God and others. If you can't even be faithful enough to obey God and assemble with other Believers then how will He ever find you faithful enough to do greater things?

Folks, these are just a few simple thoughts about going to Church (assembling with other believers) and the benefits we receive from obeying this particular commandment of God. However, consider this closing thought:Not only can others become a blessing to you in the Church, but your life can become a blessing unto others as you grow, serve, pray, endure trials, walk by faith, teach and maybe even preach God's word. Isn't it better to live a valuable life than one wasted?